Document sorting apparatus having over center gate means



Oct. 11, 1966 E. F. c. SCHULZE DOCUMENT SORTING APPARATUS HAVING OVERCENTER GATE MEANS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 18, 1964 35 INVENTOR.

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Oct. 11, 1966 E. F-. c. SCHULZE 3,278,021

DOCUMENT SORTING APPARATUS HAVING OVER CENTER GATE MEANS Filed May 18,1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ERW/N l. C. Sch'm. ZE

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Oct. 11, 1966 E. F. c SCHULZE 3,278,021 TUS HAVING OVER CENTER GATEMEANS DOCUMENT SOR'IING APPARA 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 18, 1964 WOKQWATTORNEY.

United States Patent P 3,278,021 DOCUMENT SORTING APPARATUS HAVING OVERCENTER GATE MEANS Erwin F. C. Schnlze, Novelty, Ohio, assignor toAddressagraph-Multigraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation ofDelaware Filed May 18, 1964, Ser. No. 368,005 9 Claims. (Cl. 20974) Thisinvention relates to document handling and especially to gate means forsorting tabulating cards in high speed data processing apparatus.

It is customary procedure to provide a track along which documents such:as punched cards are fed seriatim, and which includes several gatesthrough which the documents can escape from the track into associatedreceivers therebelow. Each of these gates is opened at the proper timeto pass a document which has been sensed, and whose information is suchthat direction to the receiver in question is indicated.

The practice heretofore has been to maintain each gate in closedposition, usually by a spring biasing means, until a document destinedfor the associated receiver is presented thereto, at which time anelectric signal opens the gate and holds it open for a period whoseduration is sufiicient to allow the leading edge of the document to passthe gate, whereupon the gate is again allowed to be closed by thebiasing means and remain closed until the next document destined for itsreceiver appears.

The present invention has for its object the elimination of wastemovements (found in the customary arrangement outlined above) and theattendant aspects of shock, wear, noise, inconvenience and expenserelated thereto. In particular it is an object of the invention toprovide a gate which will remain closed until signalled to open, orremain open until signalled to close.

One problem encountered in the design of gate mechanisms for stay-openor stay-closed operation, however, was that of obtaining a rapid actinggate without getting into inordinately large and unwieldy activatingmechanisms. Assuming first that a return or closing spring has to beovercome, and that it is also desired to have the gate opened byelectromagnetic means as rapidly as possible, it can be appreciatedthat, as a result of the sum of these requirements, a very largeelectromagnetic coil is required. If the system is designed to handle ahigh voltage which will open the gate rapidly in spite of the spring andthe inductive reactance during current build-up, it must then eitherhave a coil designed to withstand the current heating effect due to thatsame voltage during the extended static hold-open condition, or elsemus-t have additional circuitry for automatically lowering the voltageafter an initial high voltage opening pulse.

The present invention has for another object, therefore, the avoidanceof these difficulties and the provision of a stay-open, stay-closed gateoperating mechanism which can produce an extremely rapid gate movementresponse without an unwieldy activating mechanism.

This is accomplished in accordance with the present invention byforegoing the return spring and employing two coils one for opening thegate and one for closing it. Both coils can be of minimal size 'becausea very short high voltage pulse is all that is needed to produce rapidgate movement in either direction, and beyond the short duration of thispulse, the activating means remains in a totally de-energized state.

It is another object of the invention to provide a gate operatingmechanism in accordance with the foregoing object which can be made tooperate in a reliable fashion, whose moving parts are low inertiaelements, which is 3,278,021 Patented Oct. 11, 1966 capable of extremelyaccurate adjustment, and which can be constructed on an economicalbasis.

A feature of the present invention in one of its preferred forms is thearrangement of a leaf or armature, in driving relation with the gate,which armature is acted upon by two electromagnets, one to provideopening movement and one to provide closing movement.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of an over centerspring for the armature so arranged that its effect on the armature canbe accurately balanced and adjusted.

One particular advantage of the construction herein disclosed is theimportant degree of wear reduction achieved. High speed mechanisms whichmust perform many thousands of operations in short time intervals sufferfrom the fact that a high rate of part replacement is usually necessary,with attendant down time inconvenience and loss. By the presentinvention it has been made possible to provide equivalent gatefunctioning with perhaps one-tenth of the number of gate openings andclosings in many instances, with corresponding; extension of life of thepar-ts involved.

Another advantage of the construction disclosed is the ability of thegates to remain in either an opened or closed state in cases of powerfailure. In most situations a power failure does not prevent thecontinued inertiainspired activity of the feed rolls so that a document,once started will normally traverse the full track. If the destinationgate is held in open position regardless of excitation, as in the caseof the present invention, the document can reach its appointed receivera fraction of a second after power cessation instead of having all gatesclosed by springs whereby the document would be incorrectly shunted tothe reject receiver. Moreover, in case of some types of machine failure,the operators diagnosis of the problem can be materially assisted if heis able to determine which gate or gates were open and which closed atthe instant of failure.

Applicants co-pending application Serial No. 374,767 should be referredto for a specific teaching of electromagnetic motor means suitable forthe particular invention and for other uses, because the motor shown inFIGURE 2 herein is not separately claimed in this case.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appearhereinafter as the description proceeds.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan of a section of document feed track and showing a gateand an operating means therefor in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a detail elevation, with parts broken away, of the gateoperating means shown in FIG. 1, but drawn to a larger scale;

FIG. 3 is a detail section taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 1,showing the gate in closed position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the gate in openposition and a document passing therethrough; and

FIG. 5 is block diagram illustrating the manner of using the improvedgate opera-ting means of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings in which a preferred embodiment of theinvention is illustrated, numeral 11 desig nates a portion of a documenttrack of a card feeding device embodying side rails 13 for edge guidingthe card as it moves from right to left along the track, supported by aplatform 15. At points along the track are cooperating feed wheels 17,19 and 17, 19' of a known type for advancing the card at a predeterminedvelocity.

At various points along the track the platform 15 is interruptecl toprovide openings, and each opening is occupied by a rockable deflectinggate 21. In the form shown this gate is directly downstream of the feedwheels 3 17, 19. The gate 21 can be made to lie with its upper surfaceforming a continuation of the surface of platform 15, as in FIG. 3, orrocked upward slightly as in- FIG. 4 to deflect a leftward moving card Cinto a receiver, designated 23.

The gate 21 has a driving connection with a shaft 25 which rocks in asuitable bearing 27 in a portion of the track 11. On an outside face ofthe track is the gate actuator indicated generally at 29, operativelyassociated with the shaft 25.

The actuator comprises a frame 31, a pair of electromagnets 33 and 35mounted on the frame with their pole pieces 37 and 39 respectivelydirected towards each other and spaced apart a predetermined amountwhich can be adjusted by reason of the clamp screws 41 being slidable inslots 43' At a point on the frame 31 between the magnets 33 and 35 thereis a groove 45 which receives an edge 47 formed at one end of anarmature 49 of magnetic material such as soft iron. This armature isarranged to extend between the pole pieces 37 and 39. The armature isdesigned to rock about its edge 47 and to have a few degrees of movementfrom one pole piece to the other. Holding the armature in a leftwardposition and into the groove 45 is a leaf spring 51 In the form shown,this is a spring of C-shape having small openings in its ends. One ofthese openings receives a pin 53 on the end of the armature 49, and theother seats on the point of a screw perch 55 mounted on arm 57 which isadjustably positionable transversely of the groove 45 by reason of itsmounting on frame 31 through clamp screws 59 and slots 61. The spring 51is, of course, in a deflected condition when engaged with the armatureand screw perch 55 and tends to expand and to exert an axial force alongthe armature 49. As such, it acts as a conventional over center springand tends to snap the armature to one side or the other whenever itpasses a centralized position.

The armature 49 drives the shaft by means of a fork 63 which is clampedto the end of shaft 25 and has arms 65 and 67 embracing the armature.The arms each carry an adjustable striking surface in the form of ascrew (69 and 71).

The adjustments provided are as follows:

(1) The length of throw of the gate can be adjusted by controlling theposition of electromagnet 35 through its mounting screws 41, 41, thuspositioning its pole piece 39 closer to or farther from the pole piece37.

(2) The center point for the action of spring 51 can be positioned toaccord with a mid position for the armature 49 in the pole-piece gap byshifting the support point for the outer spring end. This isaccomplished by shifting arm 57 via its mounting screws 59.

(3) The actual ambit of the gate 21 is adjusted so as to have the lowerlimit thereof just slightly below flush position with the platform 15,and this is accomplished by manipulating the screws 69 and 71. Loweringof both screws raises fork 63 and thereby lowers the gate position, andraising both screws raises the gate.

In describing the operation of the gate operating mechanism it willfirst be assumed that the gate is in lowered position as shown in FIG.3. As cards C are fed along the track 11 they will pass freely over thetop of the gate. This continues until the machine determines that aparticular card C is destined for the receiver 23. A gate opening pulseof high voltage and short duration is then sent to the gate actuator 29,specifically to the electromagnet 35 just prior to arrival of the cardat the gate. This excites the magnet 35 and draws the armature 49downwardly, lowering the fork 63 and rocking the shaft 25 so as to placethe gate 21 in an upward or open position. As the armature 49 goes pastcenter, the spring 51 retains it in downward position after theactivating pulse has terminated. The gate v21 is accordingly held inopen position, and the card C passes through it into the receiver 23 asseen in FIG. 4.

This open position of the gate may be of long or short duration. If themachine determines that the next succeeding card C is also to go intothe same receiver 23, it sends another pulse to the electromagnet 35,but since the armature 49 is already in lowered position, nothinghappens. The gate 21 remains open and this card also is deposited in thereceiver 23. This sequence recurs as many times as the machinedetermines that each card is destined for the same receiver 23.

When the machine determines that a card is destined for some receiveralong the track other than receiver 23, it sends an opening pulse to theactuator associated with that other receiver, and simultaneouslyautomatically sends a closing pulse to the actuators of allnon-destination receivers which lie between the card source and thedestination receiver, and we shall now assume that this includes theactuator 29. This closing pulse is also a high voltage, short durationpulse and is conducted to the closing electromagnet 33. As a result, thearmature 49 is drawn upwardly against the pole piece 37, raising thefork 63 and so rocking the shaft 25 that gate 21 is lowered to the FIG.3 position, whereby cards C moving along the track 11 pass over the gate21 and therefore bypass receiver 23. The gate 21 is retained in thisupward position by the action of spring 51 regardless of how many timesthe magnet 33 may be pulsed. N0 movement occurs until opening magnet 35is again pulsed, as will be readily understood.

In the interests of high speed operation, portions of the frame 31 andthe various mounting parts for the magnets 33 and 35 have been includedin the iron circuit. The left-hand third of armature 49 is similarlyincluded. This provides a more rapid, more positive action for theactuator. In order to secure the optimum effect insofar as speed ofaction is concerned, the leads to the two coils are so connected, havingregard for the signs of the pulses used, that their flux paths throughthe left-hand third of the armature 49 will be in opposition, wherebythe field caused by a pulse in either magnet will rapidly dissipate anyremnant of the decaying field in the magnetic circuit of the othermagnet.

FIG. 5 illustrates how the gate operators specifically described aboveare integrated into a system in which a document such as a card C isbeing fed to the left past a scanner and thence down a track equippedwith a plurality of gates, three being shown in the present instance.

As the document passes the scanner 101, the informatron extractedtherefrom, either alone or together with other input information, isinterpreted at 103. One result of this interpretation is the selectionof an appropriate destination receiver into which the document willultimately be placed.

If a signal that Gate #1 is to be opened should be generated at 103,this would be conducted via path to an opening pulse generator 107, andthe resulting pulse would proceed via line 109 to the opening magnet 35associated with Gate 1, opening the same. The gate would remain open andthe card C would pass therethrough into the associated receiver. Noother gates are affected, either in an opening or closing direction.

Assuming that Gate selector 103 emits a signal that Gate #2 is to beopened, this signal proceeds via path 111 to opening pulse generator107, and the resulting pulse is carried via path 113 to the openingmagnet 35 of Gate #2 to open the same. Simultaneously the selector asignal that Gate #1 is to be closed, which signal goes closing pulsegenerator 117, and the resulting pulse is carried via path 119 to theclosing magnet 33 of Gate #1, closing the same. In this case a card Ccoming down the track passes the closed Gate #1 and enters Gate #2.

Similarly, when gate selector 103 makes a Gate #3 selection, the signalgoes to opening pulse generator 107 and closing pulse generator 117 viapaths 121 and 123 respectively. The former emits an opening pulsecarried to the opening magnet 35 of Gate #3 by path 125, and the 103emits latter sends a closing pulse to the closing coils 33 of Gate #1and Gate #2 by path 127, 127, 127".

While an arrangement employing three gates has been described, it isthought that the extension of the principle to a larger number of gatesis now apparent, the interconnection being such that the opening of anygate simultaneously creates a condition whereby all gates ahead of theone to be opened receive a signal to close.

Regardless of the number of gates present, the track normally terminatesat a small REJECT receiver to accept documents which do not scanproperly or fail to fit the general pattern for any of a variety ofreasons. When the data interpreter recognizes such a document it sendsan appropriate REJECT signal via path 129 to closing pulse generator117. The latter emits a closing pulse via paths 131, 131, 131 and 131"to the closing magnets 33 of all gates, whereby the card C is caused tobypass all the usual receivers and eventually be fed into the RE- JECTreceiver.

The features described to this point represent the requirements foroperating on a basis of one document at a time which is a conditionfrequently encountered. It will e understood, however, that if rapidoperation is desired such that a plurality of documents are occupyingdifferent portions of the track at the same time, as is also quitecustomary, suitable memory or delay devices should also be incorporated.This is recognized in FIG. 5 by showing opening delay devices 133 and135 in the paths 113 and 125 respectively. These represent suitablemechanism of known type for delaying the application of the openingpulse to the opening magnet of the respective gate at least until suchtime as the leading edge of the document next preceding the documentunder consideration would have had time to pass slightly beyond thedestination gate, so as to prevent opening of the destination gate toosoon and perhaps waylaying one or more previous documents intended formore remote receivers. Similarly a closing delay device 137 is includedin paths 127" and 131" and a closing delay device 139 in path 131".These represent suitable devices of known type for delaying theapplication of the closing pulse to the closing magnet of the respectivegate until such time as the leading edge of the document next precedingthe document under consideration would have had time to enter well intothe gate in question (if open). This is to prevent closing of a gate toosoon and perhaps causing a previous document to bypass a receiver whichhad originally been designated as its destination.

From the foregoing description it can be seen that the present inventionprovides a simple, economical gate operating mechanism of extremelyrapid response, designed to improve the speed and reliability ofdocument handling to a marked degree, but without seriously augmentingits complexity or cost.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated, it is to be understood that these are capable of variationand modification. Accordingly, the aim in the appended claims is tocover all such variations and modifications as may fall within the truespirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. Track and gate means for routing documents at high speed, comprising:

means for directing documents in a path;

a document gate shiftable between an open and a closed position, saidgate in said closed position maintaining said path uninterrupted, saidgate acting as a deflector in said open position for causing documentsto deflect from said path;

two electromagnets arranged in spaced opposing relationship, an armaturepositioned between said electromagnets, drive means interconnecting thearmature and gate for producing shifting drive, said armature and drivemeans shiftable by energization of one of said magnets to a position foropening the gate,

and shiftable by energization of the other of said magnets into aposition for closing the gate;

holding means independent of the electromagnetic action for retainingsaid gate in either of said positions after shifting by saidelectromagnets; and

path selection means for operating said electromagnets in timed andcoordinated relationship with respect to documents moving in said pat-haccording to the desired destination of a particular document.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 which further includes as saidholding means, an over-center spring means acting on the armature forbiasing the same towards either one electromagnet or the other.

3. In a device of the type described, a document gate rockable betweenopen and closed positions; a gate opening electromagnet and a gateclosing electromagnet arranged in'spaced opposing relationship; anarmature positioned between said electromagnets and shiftable byenergization of the opening magnet to a position for opening the gate,and shiftable by the energization of the closing magnet into a positionfor closing the gate; means for sending to each electromagnet a shortduration pulse of a maximum voltage which if maintained would have aheating eflFect substantially greater than that which eitherelectromagnet can withstand without damage; drive means interconnectingthe armature and gate; and an over-center means associated with thearmature for holding it towards the most recently excited electromagnetafter its pulse has terminated.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 in which there are a plurality ofsimilar gates arranged along the path of a document as it moves in apredetermined direction, and in which each of the gates has associatedequipment as described in claim 5, the means for sending pulses to thesaid closing magnet associated with each gate having operativeinterconnection with the means for sending pulses to the said openingmagnets related only to gates downstream therefrom.

5. In a device of the type described, means for feeding a document alonga predetermined path; a series of gates arranged along the path;electromagnetic motor means for opening each of said gates in responseto a signal; electromagnetic motor means for closing each of said gatesin response to a signal; mechanical detent means for holding each ofsaid gates in the opened or closed position; means for scanning eachdocument and selecting the destination gate through which the documentshould pass; means for sending a momentary signal pulse to theelectromagnetic motor means for opening the destination gate; and meanscoordinated with the sending of said signal for sending additionalsignals to the closing means for only the gates upstream from saiddestination gate if any, and at a period of time after said scanningshort of arrival time of the scanned document, but longer than the timeto travel from the means for scanning to a given gate less the intervalof time between documents passing said means for scanning.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 in which there is also included aterminal reject receiver and means related to the scanning means forgenerating a reject signal designating the reject receiver as thedestination for the document; and means coordinated with the sending ofsaid reject signal for sending additional signals to the closing meansfor all gates in timed sequence related to the movement of the rejectdocument along said path.

7. In a document conveying device having a document gate rockablebetween open and closed positions for diverting selected documents froma track in which they are driven, the provision of a new drive andcontrol means for said document gate, comprising:

a gate opening electromagnet and a gate closing electromagnet arrangedin spaced opposing relationship; an armature positioned between saidelectromagnets and shiftable by energization of the opening magnet to aposition for opening the gate, and shiftable by the energization of theclosing magnet into a position for closing the gate;

means for sending to each electromagnet a short duration pulse of anoverload voltage to build a flux field more rapidly than steady statevoltage would provide;

drive means interconnecting the armature and gate; and

an over-center means associated with the armature for holding it towardsthe most recently excited electromagnet after its pulse has terminated.

8. Track and gate means for routing documents at high speed, comprising:

means for directing documents in a path;

a document gate shiftable between an open and a closed position, saidgate in said closed position maintaining said path uninterrupted, saidgate shifting to an open interruption position wherein it is positionedas a deflector causing documents to deflect from said path;

an electromagnetic closing drive motor having an armature and drivemeans for shifting said gate to said open position upon energization ofsaid electromagnetic opening drive motor;

an electromagnetic closing drive motor having an armature and drivemeans for shifting said gate to said closed position upon energizationof said electromagnetic closing drive motor;

holding means independent of the electromagnetic action for retainingsaid gate in either said position after shifting by said electromagnets;and

path selection means for operating said electromagnets in timed andcoordinated relationship with respect to documents moving in said pathaccording to the desired destination of a particular document.

9. A track and gate means for routing documents at high speed, asdefined in claim 7, wherein said path selecting means is a documentreader taking information from the document to select the gate conditionand determine the path of the document.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,998,602 4/1935Anderson 193-31 X 2,454,628 11/ 1948 Braun.

2,656,908 10/ 1953 Ellison.

2,707,569 5/1955 Benson 209-72 3,038,607 6/1962 Eckert 209--111.73,166,219 1/1965 Rudd 222504 X M. HENSON WOOD, ]R., Primary Examiner.

A. N. KNOWLES, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent N00 3,278,021 October 11, 1966 Erwin FD Ce Schulze It is hereby certified thaterror appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and thatthe said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 34, for "5" read 3 column 7, line 21, for "closing" readopening Signed and sealed this 22nd day of August 1967.

( AL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer EDWARD J. BRENNER Commissioner ofPatents

1. TRACK AND GATE MEANS FOR ROUTING DOCUMENTS AT HIGH SPEED, COMPRISING:MEANS FOR DIRECTING DOCUMENTS IN A PATH; A DOCUMENT GATE SHIFTABLEBETWEEN AN OPEN AND A CLOSED POSITION, SAID GATE IN SAID CLOSED POSITIONMAINTAINING SAID PATH UNINTERRUPTED; AID GATE ACTING AS A DEFLECTOR INSAID OPEN POSITION FOR CAUSING DOCUMENTS TO DEFLECT FROM SAID PATH; TWOELECTROMAGNETS ARRANGED IN SPACED OPPOSING RELATIONSHIP, AN ARMATUREPOSITIONED BETWEEN SAID ELECTROMAGNETS, DRIVE MEANS INTERCONNECTING THEARMATURE AND GATE FOR PRODUCING SHIFTING DRIVE, SAID ARMATURE AND DRIVEMEANS SHIFTABLE BY ENERGIZATION OF ONE OF SAID MAGNETS TO A POSITION FOROPENING THE GATE, SAID SHIFTABLE BY ENERGIZATION OF THE OTHER OF SAIDMAGNETS INTO A POSITION FOR CLOSING THE GATE; HOLDING MEANS INDEPENDENTOF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC ACTION FOR RETAINING SAID GATE IN EITHER OF SAIDPOSITIONS AFTER SHIFTING BY SAID ELECTROMAGNETS; AND PATH SELECTIONMEANS FOR OPERATING SAID ELECTROMAGNETS IN TIMED AND COORDINATEDRELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO DOCUMENTS MOVING IN SAID PATH ACCORDING TOTHE DESIRED DESTINATION OF A PARTICULAR DOCUMENT.